Black Diamond Fitzroy Review

Likes
The Black Diamond Fitzroy is the strongest single wall tent we’ve reviewed. It uses four moderate quality 8mm Easton poles that cross seven times. Many guy points and a well-designed guy system allow you to quickly pull the tent taut for bad conditions. The interior is the largest of all six single wall tents and the third largest of all 13 tents reviewed here. Two people have plenty of space and a third could be jammed in if necessary. Four small pockets provide ample storage for smaller items.

The Fitzroy is extremely taut when set up. This is excellent because the tent flaps very little, if at all, even in high winds. Two doors, a larger one in front and a smaller one in back, make entry and exit easy. Two small awnings cover each door and provide cross ventilation without being large enough to catch wind and lift the tent (like the Black Diamond Fitzroy). Waterproof-breathable ToddTex fabric (similar to Gore-Tex) is an excellent balance of water resistance, durability, and breathability. Our testers found ToddTex to breathe better than most other single wall fabric, and therefore reduce condensation.

Dislikes
While the Fitzroy is bombproof, it has numerous drawbacks that significantly reduce its performance. First, and most importantly, the tent is very challenging to set up. The Fitzroy’s interior pole structure is the main reason for this. It took one tester, who had no prior knowledge of the tent or the Bibler series, nearly two hours to set it up for the first time in the dark. Of all the four-season tents tested here, the Fitzroy is the most difficult to set up.

Our testers greatly favor tents that pitch from the outside. There are many advantages to an external pitch: increased storm protection (rain and snow will not get in the tent), increased durability (you can’t accidentally send the pole through the tent wall), and ease of setup (crawling inside to fasten clips is more difficult than standing up outside). Because most four-season tents will have some snow and ice in them, at least on multi-day trips, the most serious of these issues is durability. Pitching a tent in very strong winds is challenging enough. Adding another element, inserting sharp poles into small snaps, is simply foolish. Yes, most people do it safely, but a simple error could puncture the tent wall and leave you with an expensive and time-consuming repair.

Another complaint, which was voiced by all testers, was the Fitzroy’s small and flimsy plastic twist tie style pole clips. These are thin, hard to use, painful to twist, and simply bad. Black Diamond includes extra twist ties, which we suggest you carry because they do break. Cold weather makes the plastic more rigid and cold hands (you have to take your gloves off in order to use the ties) make them less than comfortable and sometimes painful. Black Diamond’s Firstlight and Nemo’s Moki (not reviewed here) both pitch from within, but use Velcro closures, which are far better than plastic ties. The Mountain Hardwear EV2, which pitches from the outside with burly plastic clips, is equally fast, yet much easier to set up than the Fitzroy. The Hilleberg Tarra and Jannu, both of which use a combination of nylon sleeve and alternating clips, have, without question, our favorite pole attachment method.

The Fitzroy has several other minor drawbacks and annoyances. First, it has clunky metal zipper pulls, which are both hard to grab and noisy in the wind. These should be replaced with cord, which is easier to find in the dark, more comfortable to pull, and silent in strong winds. Second, the tent doesn’t come with enough line for all guy points. This is thoughtless. The cord is also low quality: it’s heavy, it stretches, and it absorbs water. Spectra lines with camming adjusters, such as those included with the Hilleberg Tarra and Jannu and North Face Mountain 25, would be a significant improvement. The stakes, too, could be improved. Black Diamond includes a reasonable quality Y-shaped aluminum stake, but it doesn’t have a hole in the top for a loop of cord. Other companies (MSR and Hilleberg, for example) have stronger stakes that come with a loop of cord that allows you to pull the stake out easily and find it in the snow, sand, or dirt.

Weighing 7 lb. 1 oz., the Fitzroy is the heaviest of all single wall tents, and heavier than two of the double wall tents tested here. We believe that low weight is a primary reason to buy a single wall tent. But the Fitzroy is simply too heavy! This is due to moderate quality poles and a large footprint. Unlike most other single wall tents, the Fitzroy is too wide (60 in.) to fit on small ledges.

Seven hundred dollars makes the Fitzroy a very pricey tent. The Hilleberg Tarra ($735, 6 lb. 6 oz.) is much better in every respect.

Value
Other tents offer greater value.